However the war's popularity among the Australian public has plummeted.

Over the 12 years of Australian involvement in the war, 39 Australian troops have been killed.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced last May that her government intended to pull out its troops from Afghanistan nearly a year earlier than the December 2014 NATO deadline.

Smith noted that the Afghanistan war was "the easiest thing in the world to get in, hardest thing in the world to get out."

He said conditions for the people of Uruzgan were much better since the Australians arrived.

"If we were not confident that transition would occur in Uruzgan by the end of this year, then this decision would not have been made. The security in Uruzgan is in a much better state than when we first arrived."